Good for You
by Quill of Minerva
Summary: It's been one of those days for Severus. Maybe, just maybe, someone can bring a smile to his face.


**A/n:** I have a weakness, and that weakness is for SSMM. I usually write ADMM, but if I'm honest, I'm pro-Minerva all the way and if it be with Albus or Severus with a side order of Remus then I am happy. People may not agree with me, and my lovely beta reader, Ang, has probably read through this with a grimace and to her face. I'm offering this apology…..I'm sorry but it's not my fault. My muse made me do it.

I've not forgotten my current ADMM story, but this story would not go away until I had written it.

This story is set during the _Deathly Hallows_ but I've pretty much ignored it. Minerva knows why Severus killed Albus and all that jazz. SSMM implied.

**Disclaimer: **Not mine and never will be.

**Summary:** It's been one of those days for Severus. Maybe, just maybe, someone can bring a smile to his face.

**Good for You.**

_SMASH_

The sound of glass hitting the floor echoed through the headmaster's office. The shattered pieces of glass embedded themselves into the green rug and surrounding area. Severus Snape, the newly appointed Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, muttered a curse under his breath as he bent down to pick up the pieces.

"Headmaster Snape, Sir," squeaked a house-elf appearing from nowhere. The small house-elf immediately set to work picking up the glass fragments.

"LEAVE IT!" snapped Severus, not wanting to be bothered.

"But Headmaster…"

"It's my mess and I'll clean it," he continued in his tirade. The house-elf looked positively stricken at the prospect of displeasing her new master.

"Topia is sorry, Sir," she said as she bowed to him.

"Just get out of my sight," Severus ordered.

Topia's eyes welled up and she recoiled from the angry man. With a strangled sob, she disappeared.

"Damn it to Azkaban," cursed Severus as a piece of glass sliced through the skin on his finger.

"That could have been easily avoided," came a gentle voice from a portrait hanging on the wall.

"You can keep out of this," replied Severus, looking over at the portrait of Albus Dumbledore.

"Severus, my friend …"

"If you try and inflict any more of your well meaning speeches on me," continued Severus, "I will take your portrait down and hang you in Myrtle's toilet."

Severus knew he had been overly harsh to the little house-elf. She had only been doing her job, and he had bitten off her head. He didn't need Albus Dumbledore telling him something he already knew.

"It's down to you that I'm even in this blasted office with these infernal objects around me."

Albus Dumbledore's blue eyes twinkled in amusement. Severus ignored him and inspected his throbbing finger.

"Perhaps," suggested Albus, "Madam Pomfrey could sort that out for you."

"I don't need assistance," said Severus, clearly losing patience with the man in the portrait. "I've dealt with a lot worse that a small cut in my time. Why have you insisted that I keep all this junk in here?"

"It adds to the whole plan, Severus," answered Albus.

"It makes me to look like a sick son of a…." began Severus.

"I have my reasons,"Albus added dryly.

"Oh, yes," said Severus sarcastically. "There are always reasons."

The former headmaster of Hogwarts always had reasons for his actions, but he never shared those reasons. The reasons were accepted with a blind faith by those who allied with him ,but they often shared their frustration of not really knowing what was going on with him. Despite the frustration that often rose within the Order, they all knew they were fighting for the same cause. Peace. Albus Dumbledore had been a force to be reckoned with. He had been a good mentor, friend and leader. His presence was missed, but things had to go on. There was still a battle raging on and the right side needed to win.

Albus Dumbledore looked at Severus from his portrait and gave a sigh. He would speak with him later when his mood had improved. The former headmaster sat down in the chair and promptly fell asleep. Severus was relived when he glanced at the sleeping legend. A moment's peace was what he needed to collect his thoughts. He bent down to pick up the pieces of glass that had been missed. He would have pulled his wand from his pocket, but the blasted vase that had been smashed was charmed against spells so it wouldn't be broken by a misplaced spell. The irony was that the spells cast upon the vase didn't protect it from falling off the table and breaking into hundreds of pieces. His finger was still throbbing, and from the looks of the blooded rag he had wrapped around it earlier, the wound was still bleeding. He stood up and made his way over to the chair near the fire and sat down for a moment. A warming feeling flowed through the office and him telling him that someone had come through the wards and were making their way to see him. Only a small number of people had been given the new passwords to the staircase. He could guess who was coming because he knew the other two wouldn't bother him without announcing their arrival.

"Come in, Minerva," he called.

Minerva McGonagall didn't seem surprised that he knew it was her as she walked into the office. Severus watched as her eyes were briefly drawn to the portrait of a sleeping Albus Dumbledore. She had yet to see her former friend awake. He knew she had been trying not to take it personally but it had really started to bother her over the last few weeks, and she had spoken to him about it.

After promising her that he would ask their friend about his absence in Minerva's presence, it turned out that Albus hadn't been avoiding her on purpose, though he had admitted to Severus that he wasn't looking forward to the severe telling off he was bound to get from the Head of Gryffindor. After all, he had kept her completely in the dark about the plan to stage his death and had left her a letter and a memory for her to look at after his death explaining everything. Severus had agreed that he would have probably kept a low profile till the winds had settled before speaking with her. He had fully expected to have been blasted to Azkaban and back when she had found him after Albus' death. Instead of pulling her wand on him, she had pulled him into her arms and told him that she knew everything. She had seemed satisfied with Severus' assurances that Albus wasn't ignoring her, though it was clear to him that she was disappointed.

"Tea?" asked Severus.

"Please," she said as she made her way across the room and settled in the chair opposite Severus.

Moments later, Topia appeared with a tray and placed it down on the small coffee table in front of the fire. The little elf turned to look at Severus, waiting for the next order. She shook slightly as she waited, her hands fumbling nervously at her apron.

"That will be all," said Severus, dismissing the elf without looking at her.

"You've been scaring the house-elves again," observed Minerva as Topia bowed and disappeared. "Topia looked positively stricken."

"Have you come to drink tea or resurrect Granger's S.P.E.W campaign," Severus asked with a raised eyebrow.

Minerva's lips thinned.

"No, I'm thinking of setting up A.S.S," she replied.

"Ass?" he questioned.

"Anti-Severus Snape," she answered. "I prefer the abbreviation though. Suits you. I'll have one sugar with my tea, thank you."

Severus smirked and leaned forward to make the tea. He winced when he wrapped his fingers around the teapot. Blasted cut. He managed to pour two cups of tea and added the sugar and milk to the cups. He handed a cup to Minerva who took it gratefully.

"Why are you bleeding?" she asked as she brought the cup to her lips and took a sip.

"It's nothing," he replied, shaking her concern off.

"If it's nothing," she added "why did you pull that face when you were making the tea?"

"It's how I normally look," he replied. "Can't do much about that."

"Why do you insist on behaving like a petulant child," she scolded. "Let me have a look at it."

Severus rolled he eyes as she got up from her chair and made her way over to him. It was pointless to attempt to change the subject now. Maybe he should invest in a bowl of catnip or a dangly toy to keep her at bay when he didn't want to be hassled. He didn't know if it would actually work. He had overheard students taking about such things in the corridor before taking points from them for talking about a Professor in a derogatory manner. He didn't pull away when she reached for his hand and rid him of the makeshift bandage to inspect the wound. He hadn't even noticed that her wand was her in hand until he felt a warming sensation on his finger. She had healed it quickly and without the fuss of Madam Pomfrey but there were bound to be questions and she didn't disappoint.

"Why didn't you deal with this when you did it," she asked.

She was looking at him and Severus found that he couldn't hold her intense gaze so he turned from her and remained silent. It was probably the worst thing he could have done. His hand dropped from hers and he felt her fingers gently brush against his face, easing his mood so he would look at her. His eyes met hers, and he knew she could see everything. All the years they had worked alongside each other, he had never felt so exposed to her or any of his colleagues. His eyes were showing a story that noone knew, that noone had ever asked. From the look on her face, he knew she had discovered and understood the truth.

"Talk to me, Severus," she asked softly.

This is not what Severus wanted to happen. He didn't want to be this exposed. He had spent a lifetime building up walls and for those walls to crumble because of a stupid cut would be a sign of weakness.

"Why?" he answered. "So you can pity me?"

"For Merlin's sake, Severus," she said with a sigh.

"You do, don't you?" he said, answering his own question. "I don't want pity, especially from you."

"Why especially from me?" she asked, her words edged with hurt.

"You want me to tell you that I don't heal myself because I think I deserve the pain?" he snapped. "Well, there it is. Happy now?"

"Why would I be happy to hear that?" she asked. "Do you think I relish in people's pain? Don't get me confused with the Malfoys and Carrows of this world."

Severus watched as she pulled away and began to make her way out of his office. He would never compare her to such people. She was nothing like those monsters. She had misinterpreted his words. He didn't even know what he had meant by the words, but it certainly wasn't what she thought. As she moved towards the door, he rose from his chair and caught her hand … stopping her.

"Don't go," he asked.

"You frustrate me, Severus Snape," she said turning to look at him. "I wish I wouldn't let you get under my skin."

"In a bad way?" he asked.

"Yes, in a bad way," she snapped. "Oh, I don't know. I never know when I'm around you."

"You're nothing like those pieces of scum," he said softly. "You know that. I lost my temper. I've been like a hippogriff with a sore head since cutting my finger. I snapped at you and at the house-elf. I shouldn't have and I'm sorry."

"Pardon?" she asked.

"You heard," he said.

"Nope, didn't catch the last bit," she replied. "You should open your mouth a wee bit more when you speak."

"You are insufferable," he said with a slight smile. It was then that he realised that he still held her hand. She hadn't pulled away from his touch and he wasn't intending on letting go. The latter feeling surprised him a little. He hadn't held a hand for a long time. It should have felt foreign but it didn't. It felt right.

"Yes, I am, but so are you," she said smiling back.

"I'm sorry for being an ASS," he answered.

"That wasn't too painful was it," she asked, satisfied with his apology. "I'm here for you, Severus. I always have been."

Severus was touched by her words. She had always been there for him. They enjoyed a healthy sparring relationship professionally, but in private, they had been friends. He'd always treated her differently from his other colleagues. He had always put it down to her making time for him, and he was simply repaying the favour but it was more than that. Something unwritten. Some underlying thing that never gave itself a name until now. He understood what it was. He didn't feel ready to acknowledge the word out loud quite yet, but love is what it was. He had grown to love the woman in front of him. Did she feel the same?

Taking a risk and hoping it wouldn't backfire on him, he gave a gentle pull on her hand and brought her to him. They stood staring at each other, trying to read the situation before Severus leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers. He was alarmed when she didn't respond and was about to pull away when she returned the gentle kiss. Relief coursed through Severus and he was about to deepen the kiss when a glow in the fireplace caught his eye. He had charmed the fireplace to warn him when the Carrows were trying to contact him through the Floo network.

"It's the Carrows," he said, annoyed with their timing. "You'd better go."

"We should talk," she replied looking at him.

"Tonight," he promised before kissing her gently again and guiding her to the door. "I'll come to your rooms and we will talk."

Severus brought her hand to his lips and brushed them against her knuckles tenderly. She smiled softly at him and slipped out of the door. He watched her descend the stairs. She looked back at him before disappearing around the corner. He shut the door and went back to the table and cleared away the cups before the Carrows appeared and got suspicious.

"Minerva is good for you, Severus," came the voice of Albus Dumbledore from the portrait.

"I know," replied Severus with a small smile.

**THE END**


End file.
